From compliance to environmental leadership

Management systems should have control, be it financially, in relation to the human resources of a company, or in matters concerning quality, safety and the environment. Integrated management systems are required for the quality, safety and environmental areas. The converse to this is that problems are often the result of inadequate management programmes, standards and/or compliance with standards. Recent surveys have concluded that, firstly, in order to improve environmental performance, management issues need to be addressed and developed; and secondly, that the implementation of policies and measures is vital to improve environmental performance. In addition to environmental awareness among management and the need for environmental management, this paper focuses on the role of European legislation, international standardization, other international guidelines and important aspects of environmental management and auditing. Finally, it introduces a new environmental management and audit system—the international environmental rating system (IERS), which has been developed by Det Norske Veritas. IERS is a tool to guide implementation, maintenance and improvement of environmental management in industry and to measure the quality and effectiveness of environmental management. It consists of a structured management and audit protocol with good management practices and associated user guidelines.